Entries in Lousiana
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AFP/Getty Images(SHREVEPORT, La.) -- On the eve of the Louisiana primary, Rick Santorum reserved the majority of his attacks for Mitt Romney, arguing that Romney calculates running as a conservative while Santorum is a true conservative.

“When he was asked the question about this Etch-A-Sketch comment, he said oh no no, I’m planning on running as a conservative. Ladies and gentleman, I am a conservative, I don’t have to plan on running on anything,” Santorum told the crowd at a rally downtown at the Shreveport hotel.

Santorum, who said the election is down to “two on the Republican side and President Obama,” ripped into Romney for switching his positions on English requirements in Puerto Rico for statehood, his support of carbon caps, and allegedly advocating for higher gas prices.

“Governor Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts said that we have to get used to high gas prices and no one wants to go out and produce more gasoline that this is not good for the environment. That’s what Governor Romney believed, now he’s running again as a conservative. And now he’s says I’m not for cap and trade anymore even though he put in carbon caps when he was governor of Massachusetts, advocated for higher gas prices. Now he’s for more drilling. Now he’s for all the things that all those voting in republican primaries want to hear. How many of you believe that’s what he’ll stay with?” Santorum asked as members of the crowd yelled “No!”

Santorum, who is leading Romney in recent polls in the state, linked Romney to Obama based on their health care plans and contended that electing Romney would limit the Republicans’ ability to point out the president’s vulnerability on this issue.

“It the biggest Achilles heel of this president. It the biggest Achilles heel of this president and we take the spear out of the hands of the Republican nominee by by not being able to pinpoint where that problem is and to take President Obama out of the White House,” said Santorum.

ABC/ DONNA SVENNEVIK(METAIRIE, La.) -- On the second anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s health care plan, Mitt Romney delivered a speech Friday highlighting the “wrong direction” he says the plan takes, dubbing the policy as “one more example” of the president’s “attack on economic and personal liberty.”

“I'd like, instead of having the government come in and mandate price and cost controls, I would like to have individuals have a greater incentive to shop around, and make this act more like a market,” said Romney, who spoke inside a mall just miles from downtown New Orleans on the eve of Louisiana’s primary.

“Obamacare in my opinion is simply the wrong direction,” he said. “Obamacare substitutes government intrusiveness for the dynamics of individual responsibility for individuals being able to pursue different options and for the dynamics of a free market. I believe in the marketplace. I believe in consumers pursuing their own dreams. I believe in individuals being able to make their own choices. And so as I look at this administration I see Obamacare as one more example of a president pursuing his attack on economic and personal liberty.”

Romney noted that the White House has no plans to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the president’s landmark legislation.

“This presidency has been a failure and at the center piece of this failure is this piece of legislation back here, Obamacare,” said Romney, who was surrounded by new signage that read “Repeal & Replace Obamacare.”

“And I say that for many reasons one you’ll note the White House is not celebrating Obamacare today they don’t have any big, big ceremony going on the president not giving speeches on Obamacare and that’s for a reason,” he said. “Most Americans want to get rid of it and we're among those Americans, I want to get rid of it too.”

Romney used the speech to outline what he would suggest to take the place of Obama’s health care plan, making a veiled dig at his GOP rivals.

“I think I’m the only person in this race who has actually laid out what I would replace it with,” he said.

In addition to his pledge to issue a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states on his first day in office, Romney spoke about giving states the responsibility of crafting their own health care plans.

Romney also said he wants small businesses and individuals to be able to buy insurance on the same “tax advantage basis and low cost basis” that bigger employers have.﻿

Image Courtesy: ABC News(NEW YORK) -- A watchdog group has asked Congress to investigate whether Louisiana Sen. David Vitter violated senate rules by using government funds to pay for a troubled aide to travel to Louisiana for court appearances and to perform court-ordered community service.

In a complaint lodged with the Senate Ethics Committee Tuesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) also asked the committee to investigate whether Vitter broke rules by paying aide Brent Furer's salary while Furer was on leave pending prosecution for an alleged knife-point attack on his ex-girlfriend.

"American taxpayers have a right to expect that their hard-earned dollars are spent on the people's business and not assisting a staff member facing criminal charges for drunk driving and domestic violence," said CREW executive director Melanie Sloan in the complaint. "Senator Vitter's continued protection of Mr. Furer - a clearly troubled and dangerous person - does not reflect creditably upon the Senate and merits the Committee's inquiry."﻿